The mind is a bundle of thoughts. The thoughts arise becausethere is the thinker. The thinker is the ego. The ego, if sought, willautomatically vanish. The ego and the mind are the same. The ego isthe root-thought from which all other thoughts arise.

No wonder Swami Chinmayananda said that he just could not look into the eyes of Bhagawan. Seeing some of the pictures you posted, Nagaraj ji, I too feel exactly that way. Cannot explain why... It is the same feeling Ma Yasodha had looking into the mouth of Infant Krishna who ate sand, I guess. You see anantha koti Brahmanda in those eyes - who can bear that?Sanjay

Chinmayananda (he was called Bhaskra Menon at that time), spent only 15 minutes with Sri Bhagavan. Later he said:All that I have learned in Uttarakasi, had been conferred to me by Sri Ramana Maharshi, in those 15 minutes!

Devotee: By practicing the disciplines taught above, one may get rid of the obstacles that are in mind. viz., ignorance,doubt, error etc., and thereby attain quiescence of mind. Yet there is one last doubt. After the mind has been resolved in the heart, there is only Consciousness shining as the plenary Reality. When thus the mind has assumed the form of Self, who is there to inquire? Such inquiry would result in self worship. It would be like the story of the shepherd searchingfor the sheep that was all the time on his shoulders.

Maharshi: The Jiva itself is Siva. Siva Himself is the Jiva. It is true that the jiva is no other than Siva. When the grainis hidden inside the husk, it is called paddy. When it is dehusked, it is called rice. Similarly, so long as one is bound bykarma one remains as jiva. When the bond of ignorance is broken, one shine as Siva, the Deity. Thus declares a scripturaltext. Accordingly, the Jiva which is mind is in reality the pure Self; but forgetting this truth, it imagines itself to be an individualsoul, and gets bound in the shape of mind. So its search for the Self, which is Itself, is like the search for the sheep by theshepherd. But still, the Jiva which has forgotten its self, will not become the Self through mere mediate knowledge. By the impediment caused by the residual impressions gathered in previous births, the Jiva forgets again and again its identity withthe Self, and gets deceived, identifying itself with the body etc., Will a person become high officer by merely looking at him?Is it not by steady efforts in that direction, that he could become a highly placed officer? Similarly, the Jiva, which is in bondagethrough mental identification with the body, etc., should put forth effort in the form of reflection on the Self, in a gradual and sustained manner, and when thus the mind gets destroyed, the Jiva would become the Self.

The reflection on the Self which is thus practiced, constantly will destroy the mind, and thereafter will destroy itself like thestick that is used to kindle the cinders burning a corpse. It is this state that is called release.

In the state of deep sleep (sushpti), the Self experiences repose and unmixed bliss, and has the experience of coming out of itrefreshed, -- from that 'something' into which the Self has receded while in deep sleep.

What is that 'something'? That is the Self, the pratyag-atma, the unaffected Witness-Conscious-Self Aware. This is theunchanging Truth, the ground of one's real Being, in the presence of which the states of waking, dreaming, and sleepingpass in succession. It is the real Being that is the 'I-I' in the Heart.

Sri Bhagavan urges that the basis of all manifestations be realized as the Self, self-aware as 'I-I' in the inmost core of the Heart, with Witness-Consciousness unmoved and unconditioned.

This realization alone can give the experience of the Self with All. And only on realization of That, can selfless work (nishkamakarma) become a matter of course. Then everything one does becomes spontaneous and natural (sahaja dharma), and thatis the universal religion (Vishwa dharma), so the inner experience and the outer life become coordinated in Integral Existence.That is pure devotion, true Yoga, and Full Knowledge (poorna jnana).

That which is, us Sat variously termed positively as Light, Supreme, or Prime Consciousness, Fullness, Heaven, Silence,Grace, and negatively as Nirvana, Nisreyah and so on. Its aspects of Chit and Ananda, Knowledge and Bliss, are expressedas the Heart of all that appears as Existence. In its aspect as Grace its own effort is to express itself through all that exists.This expression of joy is the eternal Dance behind all the wakefulness, dreams and peaceful deep sleep of life, thoughthese three alone appear as our experience.

The effort of humanity from time immemorial has been to discover this Joy eternal and this has been termed Tapasya. Theresult of such an effort is not the attainment of something new but only fitting the vehicle so as to be overtaken by the ever-present Grace and be in It, and then to find that there is nothing but It. Wherever there is a perfect vehicle overtakingthe expression of Grace are immediate and perfect and such a one is termed Maharshi, Siddha, Jivan Mukta and so on.

Devotee: What are the characteristics of the Jivanmukta (the liberated in life) and the Videhamukta (the liberated at death)?

Maharshi: 'I am not the body. I am Brahman which is manifest as the Self. In me who am the plenary Reality, the world consistingof bodies etc., are mere appearances, like the blue of the sky.' He who has realized the truth thus is a Jivanmukta. Yet, so longas his mind has not been resolved, there may arise some misery for him because of relation to objects on account of prarabdhakarma, which has begun to fructify and whose result is the present body, and as the movement of mind has not ceased there will also be the experience of bliss. The experience of Self is possible only for the mind that has become subtle and unmovingas a result of prolonged meditation. He who is thus endowed with a mind that has become subtle, who has the experience of Self is called a Jivanmukta. It is the state of jivanmukti that is referred to as the attributeless Brahman and as the Turiya.When even the subtle mind gets resolved and experience of self ceases, and whn one is immersed in the ocean of bliss andhas become one with it without differentiated existence is called a Videha mukta. It is the state of Videha mukti that is refrerredto as the state transcendent state of attributeless Brahman and as the transcendent Turiya. This is he final goal. Because of thegrades in misery and happiness, the released ones, the Jivanmuktas and Videha muktas, may be spoken of as belonging tofour categories - Brahmavid, Barhmavara, Brahmavariyan and Brahmavarishta. But these distinctions are from the stand pointof the others who look at them. In reality, however, there are no distinctions in release gained through Jnana.

2-1-46 AfternoonAnother visitor asked Bhagavan if it was not necessary that the varnasrama differences should go if the nation was to progress.Bhagavan: “How can one say whether it is necessary or not necessary? I never say anything on such subjects. People often come and ask me for my opinion on varnasrama. If I say anything they will at once go and publish in the papers, ‘So and so also is of such and such an opinion.’ The same scriptures which have laid down varnasrama dharma have also proclaimed the oneness of all life and abheda buddhi as the only reality. Is it possible for anyone to teach a higher truth than the Unity or oneness of all life? There is no need for anyone to start reforming the country or the nation before reforming himself. Each man’s first duty is to realise his true nature. If after doing it, he feels like reforming the country or nation, by all means let him take up such reform. Ram Tirtha advertised, ‘Wanted reformers — but reformers who will reform themselves first.’ No two persons in the world can be alike or can act alike. External differences are bound to persist, however hard we may try to obliterate them. The attempts of so-called social reformers to do away with such classes or divisions as varnasrama have not succeeded, but have only created new divisions and added a few more castes or classes to the already existing ones, such as the Brahmo-Samajists and the Arya Samajists. The only solution is for each man to realise his true nature.”